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We bought a racing Go Kart

SteveSS

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We had so much fun racing Karts on Thanksgiving that we searched Craigslist and bought one of our own. To rent racing Karts it was $40 for 10 laps. Now it's $40/day. It's a Birel kart with a KT100 2 stroke engine. So loud it hurts your ears without a helmet. We bled the brakes then took it to a empty high school parking lot. Holy Monkeys! I'm not sure which is scarier, the speed it obtains or the feeling you get from running with your butt 1" off the ground.

The kart, a scissor table stand, starter, racing suit, helmet, gloves, spare wheels with new tires went for $800 total.:hello2:
 
KT100 is a good motor. I used to have a few go karts back home. I miss them..One of my mates has an indoor kart center here so I get to drive, but would love to buy one again.
 
We had so much fun racing Karts on Thanksgiving that we searched Craigslist and bought one of our own. To rent racing Karts it was $40 for 10 laps. Now it's $40/day. It's a Birel kart with a KT100 2 stroke engine. So loud it hurts your ears without a helmet. We bled the brakes then took it to a empty high school parking lot. Holy Monkeys! I'm not sure which is scarier, the speed it obtains or the feeling you get from running with your butt 1" off the ground.

The kart, a scissor table stand, starter, racing suit, helmet, gloves, spare wheels with new tires went for $800 total.:hello2:

Any pics?
 
We did the yard cart deal some years back and had an outdoor grass/dirt track that was 900 feet and kidney shaped with banked (berms) and flat turns set up on 3/4's of an acre. When it was just the kids on it, they used the 'stock' carts but some friends and I had modified carts to play with. When my youngest daughter was on mine, it would spin the tires on the driveway and that scared her not to mention what it was doing with her on the dirt so she didn't want to ride it anymore and so, we ended up with 3 carts...one for me, and two for the kids. A buddy had 5 carts, one for him and 3 for his boys and an extra for whoever that didn't have one to drive. Never drove a racing car but we had tons of fun on ours. Needless to say the neighbors weren't too happy with us at the time but they were usually not happy with anything we did around here lol
 
nice, i used to race go karts 10 years back, we had a KT100 on an arrow frame then we went to a RESA 100cc motor then a water cooled electric start leopard 125cc that thing was crazy fast, was so close to stepping upto formula ford open wheelers but i didnt have the cash to keep up.
 
We had so much fun racing Karts on Thanksgiving that we searched Craigslist and bought one of our own. To rent racing Karts it was $40 for 10 laps. Now it's $40/day. It's a Birel kart with a KT100 2 stroke engine. So loud it hurts your ears without a helmet. We bled the brakes then took it to a empty high school parking lot. Holy Monkeys! I'm not sure which is scarier, the speed it obtains or the feeling you get from running with your butt 1" off the ground.

The kart, a scissor table stand, starter, racing suit, helmet, gloves, spare wheels with new tires went for $800 total.:hello2:

As they say SteveSS . . . Pictures or it didn't happen ! ! ( grin ) . . .
 
go kart.jpgphoto(28).JPGphoto(26).JPGphoto(27).JPGOkay nothing outside it's snowing. I'm the old guy in the middle. The gear looks like we melted the wicked witch in the living room. That's the 1971 Charger 500 in the back. My garage is always messy. On the back of the seat it says. "Da Sempre Leader Del Mondo." With my limited understanding of Latin means: Always a leader, never follow.
 
My other passion is vintage kart racing. I have two types, the traditional sprint kart (sit up kart '77 Margay Panther X) and the enduro kart (lay down '74 Margay Concept Enduro). We have an organization (Vintage Karting Association) and run all over the country. Here's a picture me that was in the World Karting Association's 2013 Tech Manual

VKA add.jpg
 

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Here is mine. I got this when I was 13 It still runs and I get it off the wall every once in a while.It has the old west bend 610
 

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my nephew pits for anderson racing out of florida.had no idea how big that sport was until they showed up here,at vegas finals,with 2 tri axle semi trucks.i see Birel chassis for sale all the time for $1000 plus,so you got a smoken deal.
 
Here is mine. I got this when I was 13 It still runs and I get it off the wall every once in a while.It has the old west bend 610

Chrysler bought the West Bend engine group in the mid 60's and made kart engines and outboards from the West Bend designs, the 610 and 820 engines were continued under the Pentastar banner, my girlfriend runs a modified Chrysler 820 on her kart. She started winning and the chassis/engine package I built for her was outlawed for 2014. We are building her a new vintage chassis for 2015 with the same Mopar power. US Motor Power is still building the original design 820 engine which is primarily used for industrial applications.

Gilmore Racing 001.jpg
 
Here's mine

1964 PressWeld Track Rabbit, I've had it since around 1975, moved it from Indiana, Colorado, Illinois for a corporate relocation then back to Colorado and down here to Georgia since 1999. The steering wheel has always been my favorite photo (11).JPGphoto (13).jpg
 
1964 PressWeld Track Rabbit, I've had it since around 1975, moved it from Indiana, Colorado, Illinois for a corporate relocation then back to Colorado and down here to Georgia since 1999. The steering wheel has always been my favorite View attachment 227472View attachment 227473

You should come to the Vintage Karting Association event in Barnesville, Ga in March and see the vintage karts run and the show. Just a word to wise, putting a 4 cycle on a vintage kart is thought of about like putting a rice burner engine in a classic Mopar! They are not allowed to run.
 
I love those old Karts. I would have sold my little brother to get one when I was 12 years old. I had a job but it hardly paid anything being a paper boy. Stuff I REALLY wanted. An Orange Krate Stingray, A Honda Minitrail, any kind of go Kart. My parents were fairly well off but I never got that stuff. Instead I got to work on a ranch all the time.
 
I raced Karts as a kid. I had Twin Mc70 on akl. Raced all ove Calif. My buddies dad was into it big time. We had a blast. He tok us to all the meets. I have to say without him and his interest in the sport we would have been doing parking lot play. He is past now but I still think of him as a really cool guy.
 
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